There are a few questions we would like to ask you, after the experience we have been sharing for several months so far

For parents:

What is/has been your child's involvement in this English course?

Do you speak about our classwork at home?

Has our classwork been useful to support your child's English at school?

What are your ideas about this experience and advice for a next one?

For pupils:

Has it been useful to partecipate with your friends in our English course?

Has it been a demanding task? Was it fun?

What do you think of the work we have done in class and the one you have been asked to do at home?

Have there been any results? If so, what are they?

For both families and students

Do you think that English Summer Camps, very short holidays where daily life and any other activities were performed in English could be useful for you to improve the language? We have plenty of ideas!

We have our very last classes together to talk about that, then you have to pass your final exam at school, and Summer is ready for anything you like most, including enjoying and improving your English.

Leave a comment, we'll make a use of it.

The article above is an invitation to think about technology; how to use it. The point is making a tool of it, having clear ideas of what the aims are. Find out what Hikikomori is aqnd write about it with your own words. .

this is a special homework for students working at the port of Livorno dealing with car stevedoring on board of ships.

Task n° 1: You received an informal email from Germany, enquiring about the transport via vessel of a few models of Bizzarrini cars.

You are requested to reply to the email, giving all the information required.

Task n° 2: after listening in class and talking about the two audios related to "Car shipping into containers" and "Faust, a gigantic car carrier", you have to write the answers to the questions on the worksheet above.

"Dear Franco,

as I recently bought two models of Bizzarrini cars, I would like to join the so many other owners of these fairytale cars for an exibition that will be held in the States. My English teacher told me that I can bear on you for a perfect service of car stowage at the Port of Livorno, since the securing requirements provided by the Company you supervise are of excellent quality.

I'm sure you know that Bizzarrini cars are unique designs, creations of a genius, the Italian Eng. Giotto Bizzarrini from your town, Livorno, and periodically gather in selected places in the world so to remember the glories of their designer?

Could you please tell me how this type of cars are loaded onto vessels, if they are containerized, how they will be retained on board and what are the procedures to be followed in order to have them perfectly transported and desembarked in the States where I would be right to take them back in charge?

Thank you for all the info you will give me and that I would like to forward to my collector friends who would like to come to Livorno to embark their cars.

Helmut"

For all the other students either interested in exclusive cars like the ones designed by Eng. Bizzarrini or just interested in knowing something about this genius, search on the Internet and write down for everybody what strikes you more. Also news about the gigantic Faust Ship can be found on the Internet, of course.

In the States there are 200.000 applicants for one way trip to Mars, and one thousand have already been selected fo this one way journey foreseen for 2023.

A human mission will follow and unmanned one, carried out by a Rover explorer to find the best place for the human mission to settle.

Mars too will be colonized then, after two living units, two support systems and two supply units will have been launched to make human beings settle on the planet. The first crew will be there in 2023 and every two years a new one will join them.

What does strike you most about this article?

What do you think of the differences among peoples living on planet Earth?

If you acquire English as a second language, or third or whatever, it is one more identity you can add to your one/s.

It allows your potentialities to surface, since so many other skills of yours were submerged and a second language is just the tool, sometimes it is just the excuse, to make you observe more, pay grater attention, listen more carefully, write to find out that there are accuracy and style, that can be transferred to your other languages; in case you are Italian, your mother tongue too can improve.

Speaking too, giving any single word an intonation to accompany any speech of yours, becomes that enjoyment the way anything related to English is. It is that one more house you can have and offer to everybody, feeling at home wherever you can hear it spoken.

Something in common, this feeling equal, and making the others feeling the same.

Up to you to continue what English is for you, your past and present experiences, to let our readers know.

It would be a pleasure reading them.

Comparing experiences, what is one of the best things Mike Strevens has ever done? Why? And yours? Why?

He speaks about Italian teachers of English. What does he say about them and what is your general evaluation about English spoken in Italy?

Where did you learn English? How long have you been studying it?

What do you do to improve it? Does it work? How do you evaluate that?

We think that Mike Strevens says something quite true about the common Italians' behaviour when speaking English. Integrating school classes' programs, we see that students tend to be afraid or ashamed to be laughed at, and be seen objects of derision by the others.

We are convinced that the approach to a second language at school should consider it behaviour, not a subject. A language is a matter of life, a lifelong competence, a vehicle for any meaning you want to communicate and talk about. With the teacher acting in English, it should be perceveid as such. A language is you and your entire body, the way you feel at ease with it.

Read the article, think of it, write a comment for us to read and talk about when back in class.

after posting articles about films, Gravity won seven Academy Awards; we would also like to celebrate the Italian one, with The Great Beauty, by Film Director Paolo Sorrentino.

We haven't watched it yet, since we would like to do it the way Americans did, with English subtitles. Below you have the link for the English trailer, on Youtube. It' important listening to the original audio of each film, and compare the two productions simultaneously, an ability you can develop thanks to just watching films and that can be of benefit in any other field.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJfvX6zPAuQ

It would be so great of you writing your own comment about the film, there are so many different impressions!

Enjoy cinema, enjoy English, practice it as much as possible, go to the cinema as often as you can!

Karall: thank you for your articulated comment. We do agree the award has been also for Rome, that plays an extraordinary fascination on American people and whoever all over the world. If you were a student in class, there would be occasions for mastering grammar and sentence constraction. At this very stage, communication works and mistakes do not impoede comprehension.

Rimas: we do adore visual language too, and any others. Thank you for highlighting how important it is to perceive all possible languages a film works on. The more we become aware of our perceptions, the more we can appreciate art.

Eleonora: going to the cinema is fundamental, but in order to appreciate the quality of a film, I would say the inner disposition is important too. It's not the case of the great beauty, that's in Italian, but sometimes if you want to watch a film in its original language, you have to choose for a DVD or otherwise.

these are two different articles at a more advanced level, and if you do not read what the level is, we think it is worth trying them. You can help your comprehension with the notes at your disposal.

Two different solitudes in two films, the immense space and the vaste sea.

Robert Redford, a "solo" interpretation in All is lost, needing a unique experience as an actor, and it can easily be said as a human being too.

Sandra Bullock acting as an astronaut in Lost in Space that reminds us of real unpredictable risks when outside into the space like the one recently ran by the Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano. In the interview by Radio Tre we mentioned elsewhere, he was also asked about this film, and for sure, professionals' perception is different from common film viewers' one.

Actors have this possibility, to play roles as they were real life, to face other selves, and what about us?

What can we do if we need to be different from how we commonly are? Do you ever feel this need?

Try to write as a comment if you agree with Redford and Bullock, and what you would have done in such situations, or what you did if you ever found yourself as a "solo going" and where you had to "go".

In case you have questions for the actors Redford and Bullock after reading the articles and watching the films, ask your questions here, we will do our best to have proper replies.

See you in class,

Anna - Coordinator

Source: Speak Up, February 2014

Eleonora: films and films! How nice speaking about them! I have been on the set of a short film, but I would like to see how the whole set of a film works. How you go through scene by scene respecting the script to get the final result. Being a film maker is a matter of having great professionality, sensitivity, intelligence, skills. Cinema can play an important role in claiming human rights.

Do not ever forget how meaningful is watching films also to acquire English. The context works with the plot, and images support delighting your interest.

search on the Internet and find information about Pierre Dulaine. Watch him dancing, with your families. Then watch the film and focus on his method of teaching, his style, his communication. His ballroom dancing is a vehicle to change the lives of not only the young people who participate in his programs and classes, but also the lives of the teachers and parents who want to support these young people.

Take the Lead was released in 2006 and depicts Pierre Dulaine's efforts to utilize ballroom dancing to help NYC youth to regain a sense of self-respect, pride and elegance.

What is the meaning of the gentle command "Take the Lead"? What does it mean according toyou?

"Don't be afraid of new things in life, you don't know when you turn round the corner what can happen, but if you take it in a positive way, you can make it positive.....You come to a place in your life where you want to give back to society. You come to a place where you need to do something. This has been the real, real journey of my life, the journey of giving". Pierre Dulaine

See you in class and don't forget, be the entrepreneur of your life, take the lead!

we would like to thank Roberta Giaconi's mother who came to class with this article about Livorno priding itself on chickpea pie after mentioning the very well known typical food the previous time in class, and Roberta for allowing such a useful use of her work, for our students.

Read the article and the worksheet. Then reply to the questions.

We are organizing a tour as a Lesson in the Open Air, ending with chickpea pie, all in English. Proud of that?

There's more news for you to know, since the journalist Roberta Giaconi is coming to Italy from Australia, where she lives, and will be staying in Italy for a month.

She accepted the invitation to visit Italian Students at ITIS Galilei in Livorno who are going to interview her about her profession, Australia, her life, her writing, her new book, to be presented this month in Italy.

Why don't you write here a few questions you would like to ask her? We will publish the answers.

Enjoy your English and chickpea pie, See you in class, Anna - Coordinator Source: as mentioned + the Internet

Simona, Silvana and Fabio, Eleonora, thank you for coming to class offering mates your delicacies. The foto of Florence's Lily is the decoration on top of Eleonora's cake, the Schiacciata Fiorentina.

just a few words to update this article today, 1st December 2016, almost two years after publishing it.

A film about Bob has recenbtly been released, with Bob playing itself. Nice guy!

Write comments about both, the article and the film, we will reply. Anna Coordinator

This is the story of a cat in Great Britain. Whoever loves animal can read it, reply to and ask questions to anyone else on the blog, through a comment. Have you read any other books about famous cats?

For example Dewey, or Cleo? Do you know any others?

While you read this article at Pre-Intermediate level, can you search for the other cats'stories?

Are they similar to this one?

If so, what do they have in common?

Which one do you prefer to tell us on the blog?

So many times children are very fond of cats; one in a group writing poems on different subjects, wrote this little one for his she cat:

Today we want to talk about chocolate from two completely different points of view. The first one is seeing chocolate as an addiction. It is the angle of this text book we coped with in class.

Grammar practice is about phrasal verbs. In these two paragraphs they are quite easy to learn and memorize.

Do you know any other type of addiction?

This page made us think about a reverse side of a habit we can develop without thinking of how cocoa is harvested to make chocolate.

Not that you have to be a chocoholic to know about that. It's just information, very important to acquire in order to start viewing chocolate also in a different way.

If you like having information about it do not hesitate to watch this documentary on Youtube, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Vfbv6hNeng.

We do think there's so much to know about other any reverse side of what we can easily perceive. We continue to ignore so many areas of the world and the peoples who live there. Maybe being informed makes the difference, and each one of us, in his square meter can behave differently. Check also how chocolate is produced from now on.

Thank you Silvia for coming to class with one more side of it! Good news, fair trade!

We invite you to write your comment about any type of addiction you may know, and how we could get rid of the "addiction" of seeing people not equal.

What is the role of chocolate in our life? How can we consider it? Food? Nourishment? Have you ever visited a Chocofestival?

Let us know and describe it.

See you soon in class,

Anna - Coordinator

Source: First Certificate Masterclass, Oxford University Press, 2008 and Youtube

Thank you Cristina, Silvia, Marco and Sergio.

It seems chocolate is quite an interesting and delicious topic!

Any food when tracked back tells us so much about our history, civilization, and also unfortunately about people' exploitation. But definetely each one of us can make the difference choosing what's best each single time.

No wine with chocolate? It might be Porto or Marsala you say, Sergio?

I do think we should organize a proper celebration to see how well they match.

Next time I'm coming to class with chocolate, let's see what happens then!

Paola: thank you for the speech you delivered in class, Paola. Communication was perfect. Just something to change, e.g. when I was seven, I used to go to...; hot chocolate was served to the children who...; after listening to....whoever would like to/likes/wants...

first there's someone we would like to thank for participating in this blog, Samuele, who joined us with his comment about London Gliding.

There is a very special reason why and we would like you to find it out; maybe interacting on the web you can do it.

We are working hard these days, to develop projects and ideas. And you? Do you enjoy your English?

We would like you to do that, also reading books.

Here there is one among the vast variety we frequently propose our students to choose among. It is not a graded book, the type commonly students of English are invited to read, often as a part of their school program.

If you can find the type of narration suitable to you, there are so many books of contemporary literature you can read; with the language level, also enjoyment can increase and reversely.

Never stop reading and watching films. Be surrounded by English speaking and feel it as your second language, your second home. If you already speak other second languages - one could be Italian - then you are privileged, it is even easier. Let us know what you think of this book and others you are reading.